Snowy Owl Lost

Saturday, March 3, 2018

Hey hey hey, I’ve had some more short stories published. Some are due out next month, but you can click the link below to read the latest, The War of the Buntings. It’s another in my series of “X-files birding tales” – yep, I’m creating a new genre ;)

The idea for this story came about in Suncheon in 2015, when I was nestled down in the deep reeds on a birding stakeout. After ten or so minutes of sitting, I became part of the landscape to the birds, and they surrounded and flowed around me. I watched a band of Vinous-throated Parrotbills get into a heated squabble with an equal number of Yellow-throated Buntings. It amused me to see such cute little birds displaying aggression, so to pass the time, I started narrating the battle in little cartoony Lemmiwinks voices: “I am Tsip-tsip-chee, the queen of these Parrotbills! You Buntings have stolen our lands for countless sun-cycles, and we will no longer sit by and let you subjugate us in our own land of Reed-ditch!” and so on. Anyway, I’m a big weirdo, and I thought so much of the idea that I scaled it up to a book I’ve been working on since mid-December. Almost done the first draft...weirdo, told you.To read my other published birding tales, click on this handy clickety-click and scroll down: http://snowyowllost.blogspot.ca/search/label/Writing%20stuff-published%20stories

Friday, February 23, 2018

The Cuban Tody - what can you say about a bird like this? This teeny tiny shimmering gem of a species was my #1 target for the trip, and Viñales did not disappoint. We had several along the trails on both days, and I was shocked at how confiding they were. I had to back up a few times, as they were too close for my lens to focus. I spent many long, blissful minutes in the company of these truly charismatic birds, watching them forage at their own relaxed pace. Swoon. I missed out on some other Cuban targets, such as Bee Hummingbird, Cuban Trogon, and Yellow-headed Warbler, but you have to leave some birds on the table for next time, innit. I ended up picking up 30 lifers on the trip, with a good number of regional endemics mixed in there, so I had a blast. While perhaps a bit of misguided rationalization, I wear the Bee Hummingbird dip as a badge of honour. I didn’t have a tour guide to show me a reliable spot for the world's smallest species - the one pocked with constellations of tripod holes. Freestylin’! Yep, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Again, the week wasn’t designed as a birding trip, but I managed to insinuate quite a bit of birding into it: “Oh look, we’ve ended up right next to this Jardin Botánico, that’s weird. Wanna go in real quick? Huh huh? Wanna go in?” “¡Muchas gracias!” to my father for lending me his Bushnells, to Chris Lansdell for taking the time to give me the scoop on regional field guides and logistics (I had a good time sifting through the epic Cuba posts on his blog, which helped me get a feel for what would be around: http://chrislansdell.blogspot.ca/search?q=cuba), and especially Matt French, without whom the trip would literally not have happened for me. What is this, an awards ceremony? If you’re lucky enough to find yourself headed to the West Indies, I would forcefully recommend picking up Birds of the West Indies by Norman Arlott. A superlative field guide, and perfect for the birder who travels light. While it may not feature illustrations of juvenile or in-flight birds for most species, these strategic omissions end up being worth their weight in gold. The book is well-laid out, the descriptions clinically concise, the illustrations are clear and "modern" - and then there’s the size. It is slightly smaller than a DVD case, and light. This portability was very much welcomed, especially when you’re living out of a man purse for a week, heh heh. I also thought it was a neat bit of trivia to spot the inspiration for Ian Flemming’s famous spy in the “Further Reading” section. Oh wait, what’s this I see on page 96? More Todies you say? An endemic Tody on each large Caribbean island? Damn it, be right back.

A few welcome new species at the base of the mogotes on the 17th, on a much longer session, with just Matt French. I was chuffed to finally cross paths with a Cuban Bullfinch in the wild – an absolutely charming bird, we had a few calmly foraging right next to the trail. I saw several kept as cagebirds in town. The Great Lizard Cuckoo was a nice way to end the walk...my spidey sense was going off, and I insisted we push a final 200 feet in the blazing sun - we saw the bird right where we turned around to head back. On the way out, thrilling close encounters with Prairie and Yellow-throated Warblers, two species that had overshoots show up in Québec last summer. The wood-warblers (and most other species) in Cuba were much more confiding, sluggish even, when compared with their counterparts encountered on migration in Canada. Cuba is a pretty laid back country, I guess it rubs off on all visitors. On that note, time for a siesta.

Finally got up into the outback of Viñales NP on the 16th, and had an awesome morning out. Matt French (co-worker from Jeju) and his bud Doug Watts were spotting birds left and right, in a target-rich environment. Picked up quite a few Cuba specials, including the Cuban Tody, a spectacular little gem that merits its own post. By midday, that tropical sun sure can be an ass-kicker – good thing there was a little mojito shack on the way out. The Cuban Solitaire was a talented songster, singing what the field guide described as a "...far-carrying song, said to sound like a wet finger rubbed on the rim of a fine porcelain cup." Ooh la-la.Great White Egret-3Snowy Egret-2Cattle Egret-5Turkey Vulture-20+American Kestrel-2 dark phase birds seen matingKilldeer-14Zenaida Dove-2Mourning Dove-4Common Ground Dove-8+Smooth-billed Ani-6Antillean Palm Swift-50+Cuban Emerald-1Cuban Tody-2Cuban Pewee-3La Sagra’s Flycatcher-3Cuban Solitaire-2Red-legged Thrush-1Northern Mockingbird-15+Northern Parula-2Yellow-rumped Warbler-3Prairie Warbler-1Palm Warbler-20+American Redstart-1Western Spindalis-3(Rose-breasted Grosbeak-1 female possibly seen)House Sparrow-6+Yellow-faced Grassquit-18+Cuban Blackbird-8Greater Antillean Grackle-20+

About Me

Howdy! I'm a birder from Montreal who has been working and birding in South Korea since 2005. I've lived on Jeju and Geoje Islands, and have birded at a diverse range of sites in South Korea. After drifting around Europe for a bit, I'm back in Suncheon, Korea for one last hurrah. Ergo sum ego avem. (contact me at mattpoll24 at gmail dot com)